Dan, I'm gonna throw this out there for you, and I need you to comment on it.

Tiger is not the golfer that Nicklaus is until Tiger can do what Nicklaus did in the Ryder Cup.

Nicklaus had a career record of 17-8-3 in the cup, compared to Tiger's 7-11-2 before this year. This showed the Golden Bear's ability to adapt to team play, different formats of golf, the pressure of playing for your country, the different climates that one encounters in Europe, etc.

Tiger has done none of these. And now this week, we see that he's pissed, with the whole Elin thing, and he still can't carry a team. Where is the Tiger that dominates the PGA and British Opens this summer? Especially in fourball matches, he should be able to carry Furyk if he's not playing well.

But, I'll also go out on a limb and say this: the European squad has more talent than the U.S.

I dont think the Europeans are that much better than us so much as it is that they hate us. Having spent a few years in scotland during the late 80's I can say that they they really don't like us Americans. I think it is why we are not as dominant in all sports at the world championships in the various sports. I think the only sport we would smoke the world in would be football and if they started playing internationally I bet we would eventually get our asses handed to us. I think if you took a good team from rugby though and taught them the fundamentals they would smoke us. I remember hearing that back inthe 80's the new zealand all blacks and the 49's had an exhibition. The first half of the game was our football and the second half they played rugby. The allblacks kept within two touchdowns in the first half but come the second half the allblacks ran off a string of like 8 tries in a row without the 49er's scoring. Does anyone remember this happening? I think it was in 85 after that second super bowl win but I might be mistaken.

God I hate this weekend for college football. I have to wait all day to watch the gators have a scrimmage with kentucky which might end up being a 77-0 blowout. The US is going to get blown out by the europeans, and my bucs are gonna get killed by the panthers. At least we get the jax game on tv here in orlando.

I've heard that the Gamecocks are favored by 30 against Florida Atlantic. Having seen them play the first 3 games, where can I go to bet against the spread? There's no way in hell they win by 30, they couldn't even score 30 period against Wofford.

Dan, since I'm pretty sure you're not going to be posting today I figured I'd just take this time to say Happy New Year. I realize that is just a strange way of putting the significance of today but it's the best my non religious mind can comprehend.

Anyways I'm going to enjoy what might be the most boring day of college football - as long as the Golden Domers redeem my bank account by beating MSU I'll be happy today.

Since it's maybe the most boring day of games in the entire college year, and since I, like Shanoff, will be atoning for my sins 8 days from now... I decided to spice it up by making 42 bets today. Good times ahead.

I can't agree that MSU beating ND counts as an upset. Upset in the fact that MSU is unranked and ND is high-overrated, yes. But the fact that MSU has won 7 of 9 vs ND and has the most victories over ND of any team, no.

I've been watching most of the first half of the Georgia/Colorado game and I have not been too impressed by Georgia's play. Colorado has been able to march down field willingly against a D that has already had two shutous.

hey dan, earlier in the week you said an alabama fan wrote you saying the tide did not deserve to be a top 25 team. as a bama fan (and former student SID at the capstone) i'm wondering where you'd rank them if they pick up a road win at arkansas today?

A life-long Tar Heel and recent graduate, I think it's safe to say that John Bunting's days a coach are numbered. Living in New Jersey now, I can't get the games on TV, so I followed the game on the web while watching other games...

So my question is, when it is okay to start rooting against your guys to ensure a coaching change? I think with the game at 52-0 (against Clemson today), I reached the point where watching the Heels' inept effort became comical... to the point that I wanted to see how lopsided this could become before an open mutiny on the sidelines erupted.

The story of the Alabama game is not Tiffin's misses. It is, by far, the conservative nature of Bama's coach, Mike Shula. After having moved the ball on Arkansas the entire second half, Shula plays it safe at the end of regulation and puts the game on the foot of a freshman that is already having a shaky day. Then, what does he do with ALL of the momentum of the game on his team's side after Mustain throws a pick in OT. The SAME EXACT thing. Three runs up the middle to set up a long field goal for Tiffin. Wide right. Bama scores easily to kick off the second OT. Wide right. No way Arkansas is not going to score and win.

Unbelievable. There was a big part of me that hoped Leigh Tiffin would be left in Arkansas, but there's a bigger part of me that's angry with Shula.

no...i'm afraid ND IS that bad. brady quinn is looking more and more like a heisman bust.

regarding alabama's painful loss this afternoon:

leigh tiffin's disasterous evening not withstanding, alabama fans have officially had enough of coach mike shula. for the unteenth time today, shula had a chance for a big SEC win, but conservative play-calling doomed that chance once again.

first and goal late with 5 minutes to go...run. run. run. overall gain: 3 yards. result: missed field goal.

arkansas had the first possession in overtime #1. bama picks off an errant mustain throw. first down bama. run. run. run. result: two yards. missed field goal.

and this isn't an isolated event. he does this REGULARLY.

who in the world with first and goal and five minutes left in a tie game would play for a field goal with a true freshman kicker? why, david shula's brother, of course.

i don't understand the UA athletic department. the man is not a racing horse, just because he was sired by don shula doesn't mean he knows how to win football games.

i checked today and yes, fireshula.com and firemikeshula.com have both been registered. either force him into finding an offensive coordinator equally as qualified as his defensive coordinator (Joe Kines), or give him the boot.

I am shocked by this ND game. I know that ND is really overrated this year but this is a joke. Charlie Weis did not have this team ready to play and that is pathetic - after that flag incident last season the Golden Domers should have been raring to go tonight and they just got blown off the ball from the first second.

I can't believe how much the gators sucks tonite. Typical letdown after winning a big game. I think though that the double reverse toss and pass might be the play of the year so far. As much as I hate to say it I can totally see them dropping in the polls. I have to give credit where it is due though. Rich brooks has a good game plan and we can't seem to stop that dink and dunk crap. Thankgod we bend but aren't breaking.

Ummm, anyone who thinks that Troy Smith is a lock to win the Heisman needs to look at today's stats. He had an average game.

After I was walking out of Neyland Stadium last week depressed over the one point loss to the hated Gators, a bunch of Gator fans were doing that stupid gator chomp thing right in the faces of dejected Vol fans. I said to many of them that they shouldn't celebrate because they will lose two games this year by 10+ points. Today's events just make me more confident that this will come to fruition.

Anyone who thinks Troy Smith is the Heisman front runner could not have watched today's game. Other then one good scramble and one good pass (the TD) he was his performance was subpar. Pittman carried that team today, and if PSU had a half decent QB, they would have upset OSU at home. That was a close game up until the two INT's in the last three minutes. PSU beat themselves (false start on 4th & 1 on the one with the score 14-3 and a missed FG). Troy Smith really did nothing to carry this team, and OSU is very lucky to be undefeated...

Here's the biggest problem with saying that Troy Smith isn't still the run away frontrunner for the Heisman - who else would you give it to?

Right now I say Adrian Peterson might be my favorite but that's just because after watching Troy Smith just be average today - and the fact that Calvin Johnson plays for Georgia Tech and not UGA - I'd say it might come down to Peterson at this point.

I don't see it, bab78. While I'll agree that Troy Smith didn't really help his case today, at no point did I feel OSU was going to lose. While PoSU's defense played very well, once OSU was up 14-3 the game was pretty much over. Even if you remove the false start, there was no guarantee the Lions were going to score a TD as they had been stopped multiple times already. Heck, even with a TD there and the missed FG, they're still down 14-13.

In other words, it wasn't like it was 4th down and they were down and eked out a victory (like OSU did versus Purdue en route to the championship in 2002). Or heck, what Georgia had to do today.

In other news, Notre Dame is now down by 10. And MSU is incompetent enough to blow this.

In related news, Washington beat UCLA for the first time since 2000. Ty's about to have a better record than the 'genius'.

He caught it off the receiver's back. Inconceivable. Give MSU the death penalty--they deserve it. Now we get to hear more talk about how Weis is a genius when he isn't, just his opponent was a fucking idiot.

Lee Corso is still driving the "Brady for heisman" bandwagon, calling his performance "heroic." This despite the fact that (a) they were playing MSU, (b) the defense made the big plays down the stretch.

You know, that Nike Gridiron commericial is playing on ESPN right now. Answer me this question: How is this "Briscoe High School" team, coached by Don Shula and made up of the likes of Troy Palamalu, Brian Urlacher, LT and Michael Vick trailing another high school team 14-10 in with seconds left in the fourth quarter?

This is proof positive that Michael Vick is just a not a great QB, no matter what Nike and Under Armour keep telling us.

Jeff - I didn't say that Michigan did not look good, I just meant that they did not win as impressively as I thought they should have against an unranked Wisconsin team, especially after last weeks big win (however I'm am the first to say that ND was way over rated at #2).

Speaking of ND, Why did MSU go conservative in the 4th? I hate it when teams get big leads and then go conservative. ND should still drop at least two spots in the polls.

Booty and USC "high powered offense" put up a stagering 3 points against Arizona in the first half. (Stephen F. Austin put up 10 in the first half against Arizon last week). Yep, USC is a sure-fire lock for #2 in the polls this week.

I have 2 TVs set up to watch 2 games at the same time, and sat stunned as I watched NC State take advatage of BC's brainlock in not kicking the FG to make it an 8 point lead, drive down the field, and win it, then watch ND seal the comeback with one of the most absurd INTs I've ever seen. My brain hurts.

I'll srop two truisms on you, apply them as you see fit: 1) Prevent Defense Prevents Defense, and 2) Playing not to lose ensures you won't win.

UF didn't look particularly great, but I didn't think they looked any worse than they did last week against Tennessee. The receivers dropped some balls, the offensive line held a little much, and Chris Leak made one or two bad decisions. Basically, it was the same caliber of play as last week. Or at least it seemed it from the stands.

But here's what got me (and here's why there are times when I just hate our fans): from the beginning of the game, most of the student section was expecting another 49-point explosion on Kentucky, so they could see nothing but Tebow for the second half. Well, when it didn't happen, the Te-Bow! chants began in the first quarter. People around me were actually cussing out Chris Leak when he got sacked and when receivers dropped the ball. It was unbelievable. But the worst part--and I don't know if you could tell this on TV--was not only did Tebow get lots of cheers when he came into the game, Chris Leak got booed when he replaced Tebow after Kentucky was adapting their defense to the QB run. I honestly almost left early for the first time it pissed me off so much. I'll gladly point out for you Chris Leak's faults (his ego seems to be one sometimes) but to boo the guy who led us to a win at Tennessee a week ago (and who has 5 straight victories over the 3 big rivals--only UF QB to do that other than Wuerffel) is a fucking travesty.

1. (1 last week) Auburn - Soundly beating Buffalo adds about as much to a team's resume as a bye week, but still look like the best team.2. (3) Ohio State - Got taken down to the wire by a ridiculously pumped Penn State team, but got it done, and certainly looked more impressive than WVU.3. (6) LSU - I had them too low at #6 last week. Because of the home field advantage of the Swamp, they shouldn't come into Gainesville in two weeks as favorites, but they should come in higher ranked.4. (2) WVU - Great explosive offenses struggle against East Carolina.5. (4) Michigan - Struggled with 'Sconsin but pulled away there at the end, which is good enough.6. (5) Florida - Didn't look as bad as people seem to be reporting. Any time an SEC game is locked up in the third quarter, I'll take it.7. (7) Louisville - Looked pretty good without Brohm, who they'll get back before they play anyone they really have to worry about.8. (9) USC - They're climbing in my esteem, but still.9. (-) Texas - Back into my top 10. 10. (10) TCU - They get to hang onto the 10-spot after a bye.

Dropped out: (8) Georgia - Man that was the best of all worlds really, Georgia crapping the bed at home against Colorado, yet somehow pulling it out in the end. So UF fans will get to make fun of them for it, while having a team on our schedule not plummet out of the polls to hurt our SoS.

Mike-That int may have been absurd, but ND was going to win anyway. MSU's offense was terrible in second half. They only had 93 yards!

Matt Hooper Presents-You're nuts if you think this isn't going to help Quinn in the Heisman race. Yes, the defense made big plays, but Quinn also threw 3TDs (out of 5 on the day)! That's how a TEAM overcomes a huge deficit.

20-36, 318yds, 5TDs, 1int. Looks like a Heisman stat line to me, especially in the rain.

Go ahead and drop ND a couple spots if you want. With the cake-walk schedule they have left, they're going to be 10-1 and in the top 10 when they play USC at the end of the season anyway.

troy - those truisms are the two things that get under my skin the most when watching football. Why teams continue to use those "strategies" I'll never know.

1.(1)-Ohio State. The score was inflated by two late PSU interceptions, but get to keep the number 1 spot.2.(2)-Auburn. Easy week this week, didn't do anything to lose this spot.3.(4)-Flordia. Looked shakey at frist against Kentucky, but looked more impressive in their win than USC did over Arizona.4.(3)-USC. "high powered offense" hung only 20 points against Arizona. Only 3 in the first half.5.(7)-Michigan. I was expecting them to beat Wis. by a bigger margin. But I had them to low last week at #7. (I had them at 7 last week because ND was entirely over-rated at #2)6.(5)-West Virginia. Seriously thinking about putting one loss Texas and LSU above them. Are you going to bet on WVU against either of those teams?7.(6)-Texas. Dropped one spot in a win over ISU not becasue of anything they did or didn't do, but because Michigan deserves to be in the top 5.8.(10)-LSU. Should be a showdown in the swamp on Oct 7.9.(9)-Louisville. Cantwell looked pretty good in a win over Kansas State.10.(-)-TCU. Move into my top 10 with a bye. And no one else deserves this spot right now. Especially not ND.

That loss last night defined MSU in the John L. Smith era. Build a big lead and then just give it away in the 4th quarter. This is what separates wanna-be underachievers like MSU from the OSUs & company. When it comes to the 4th quarter and they have the lead, you can see the fear in MSU's eyes. When OSU gets to the 4th quarter, that is their time baby. How do you give up 19 points, and abandon a dominant running game in the 4th quarter? Is firejohnlsmith.com active yet?

What a terrible, terrible day for true sports fans. Now that MSU completely blew it versus ND, we will have to hear more crap on how ND is such a storied team with a genious of a coach and a Heismann QB. This sucks.

on tv troy, they said that when leak went back into the game after tebow they were cheering but as an alum I said bullshit to my friends. We are fickle and spurrier ruined it for us. We have come to expect laying half a hundred on UK. I mean cmon there was a two yr span where we beat them by a 140! point margin (70-0 and 77-7 i think) I think part of the problem is that we are used to the flash and lets face it Leak isn't all that flashy. I remember when he first was on campus how the alligator said leak would rather study than hang out with girls. I mean what would you rather do study your playbook or go bang the freshman cheerleading squad? I sure know what a guy like Matt Leinart would have done. He would have fucked all of sorority row then worked his way down 441 to traders and then cafe risque. All the hype with tebow (Especially with him being just up the road from jax) has made us think he is the answer and that he is going to run this "flashy" offense. We have been led to believe he is going to run like emmitt and pass like danny. How long will it be before we start to boo him when the next wunderkind is on campus?

Anyhow:

1 Auburn (until oct 7)

2 OSU is it just me or does anyone else want to just beat jim tressel senseless?

3 WVU It is a good thing they dont play anyone good this yr but I would love to see uf's run defense on a good day against them on their best day.

4 Michigan can't wait for them to shit on OSU's parade

5 UF we are gonna be subject to some good football games the next month

6 texas my cousin from dallas sent me a text last night saying fear bevo and he can kick my ass so they are going here.

7 LSU I just like how they look and want no part of them this season but c'est la vie.

8 Louisville (reminds me of a funny joke I will put on my blog this afternoon when I post.

9 USC I just applied to go there for my piled higher and deeper so why not.

I am still disappointed that the Swamp crowd boo'd Leak, he is in the top 5 in QB rating, leads the nation in TD passes, and put together a GREAT drive to answer UK to end the half.

I just want to add the MAJORITY of Gator fans appreciate Leak and what he has given this program and KNOW there is no QB controversy. Tebow is going to come in because he can run the ball better than Leak, no shame in that.

My roommates' pet theory is that the students weren't booing Leak so much as booing Meyer for putting Leak back in after Tebow had just run 3 times for 62 yards. But the people around me--a lot of underclassmen--were definitely booing Leak. And a buddy tells me the boosters/alums sitting near him were also booing. Which is even worse than the students.

I'll agree that most Gator fans rightly appreciate Leak, but I'm not entirely sure anymore that the majority of Swamp-goers (especially those who exert influence with their pocketbooks) aren't ready to see Tebow take over now. A loss at home to Bama or LSU and things could get really heated and ugly in Gville.

A win is a win, right!? The Buckeyes still deserve the #1 spot since they haven't lost. Penn State always plays them hard. I'm a tad nervous about the game Saturday...Iowa, at home, at NIGHT. Ugh, I hate those primetime games. Iowa is hungry for this one.

Georgia and LSU flip positions. - Georgia should have easily dropped out of the top 10.

TCU doesn't play and drops a spot?

ND stays at 12. I'm suprised the pollsters didn't move them into the top 5 because of "the biggest come from behind victory in ND history" as I heard on tv this morning. Personally, I have them moving down to 15.

Jealousy? Are you serious? Its undeserved hype. The Cubs get the same crap every year. People hate ND because 98% of their fans have no connection to the school but they act like they were born there. That and the national media shoves ND down our throats every chance it gets.

The reason that "98%" of Notre Dame's fans did not attend the University can be attributed to history. Notre Dame and Rockne were the first team to travel around the country to play games (most teams only played teams from their state or region at that point in time) and thus they became the default team for middle class, Catholic families to cheer for.

The other reason is that it is a small school. While schools like Texas or Ohio State pump out 100,000 new alumni each year, Notre Dame adds 8,000 alumni each year.

And I can assure you, that the "2%" of us out there embrace both the hate and love from fellow sports fans.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.